Using my voice to defend those we cannot yet hear.

Walking out: How a mother left Planned Parenthood with her baby still alive.

As I’ve been speaking out for life I’ve had multiple friends come forward to share their stories of tragedies and triumphs and this particular testimony was one I felt needed to be shared.
I remember Donanne being pregnant as a teen but I never realized what a fight she faced. Now that I do, I’m even more grateful to know her child than I was before.

In her words, this is her story….

“I was 15 when I got pregnant with Sean. I wasn’t in a good relationship, his Dad liked to play a lot of mind games. I never thought I would put up with that from someone. But I did and it wasn’t good. So when I actually found out I was pregnant I had just turned 16. He told me to get an abortion and I was so scared. I thought I would never even look at doing that… but I did.
I went to Plan Parenthood.
I didn’t even need my parents permission to get the abortion. I was crying and so scared. I remember sitting in there thinking “why are you here? this is not ok.”
At that minute they called me back. I got up and followed the lady back still crying. She told me it would be ok they just need to get a picture to see how far along I was. So I laid on the table and she started an ultrasound making sure I could not see the screen. I asked if I could see it and she said “no it would be better for me not to”.
At that point I was crying even more and I started to pray.
All of a sudden time stopped and God was telling me to get up and leave and that everything would be ok. So I did.
I told her that this was crazy and I wasn’t going to kill my baby. She looked at me like I was the crazy one. I then grabbed my stuff and I left.
Over the next few months it wasn’t easy. Lots of things happened. People that I thought were friends talked about me and it hurt. It was so hard to go to school but I did every day till I was told I had to stay off my feet.
And I cried more then I think I have ever.
But May 10th 2002. I was blessed with a bright eyed 8lbs 5oz baby boy. I had been falling behind in school before and having him made me focus. Because in 2004 I graduated with all my friends with all A’s and B’s. Without God giving me this baby I don’t know if that would have happened I was going down a bad dark road.”

I’m so pleased to say that Donanne and her son, along with her 3 other children and husband are all doing well.
What courage and strength it takes to say no. Donanne made mistakes and wasn’t perfect but she took what came from those actions as a reason to change. Sean saved her life, and by getting off of that table Donanne saved his.

It’s so important that we realize how afraid and confused women are when they seek abortion. Not every woman is out to kill her baby, many are simply terrified.
We must also realize what the staff of that clinic was doing to Donanne… Manipulating her by not letting her see what her baby looked like. Clinics know that women who see ultrasound are far more likely to choose life over abortion. They see that who they are terminating is in fact a human baby and that’s why they didn’t want Donanne to see, that’s why they don’t let any mother see.
Thank God Donanne saw that tactic and recognized what they were trying to achieve with it.
Unfortunately not every woman does what Donanne did by leaving.
Most of the time when a woman walks into the clinic room the clinic’s manipulation wins out.
Educate people on ultrasound and encourage every woman considering abortion to seek an ultrasound first to make sure she is sure. We can’t let this manipulation continue.

Donanne’s experience is a perfect example to show how choosing life is worth it.
If Donanne can do it at 16, graduate school, live a full life while letting her child live a full life as well, so can all the young women out there.
Don’t let fear motivate murder.
Don’t let people’s whispers put you down. Carry your child because it’s the right thing to do and you and your child will both see a happy ending.

Girls, be brave like Donanne. She isn’t Wonder Woman and she didn’t think she could do it either…but she did. There is something so beautiful about a woman who chooses bravery over fear and triumph over tragedy. And we all have that beauty in us. We just have to find it and be willing to show it like Donanne did. We all can be strong and courageous. We can all choose to let our children live.